


like a shining star (leading me home)

by ilsafausts (phoenix_cry)



Category: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Clubbing, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Matchmaking, Team Bonding, Team as Family, WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED, at this rate i'll burn out faster than a match, hot people in hot clothes, ilsa wearing a cocktail dress, set after fallout, slight spoilers for Fallout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 17:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15711585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_cry/pseuds/ilsafausts
Summary: The boys persuade Ethan to go clubbing with them. Who do you think they just happen to run into?





	like a shining star (leading me home)

The first glimpse he got of her was short, barely a second, but he would recognize her anywhere. She was illuminated by a disco light randomly passing over the crowd, bathing her in cold blue gleam. She looked like a star in the sky surrounded by inky darkness, just a blip, before she was gone again. His eyes desperately tried to seek her out again, through the pulsing mass of human bodies crowding the dancefloor of the nightclub. Pushing through the crowd, a little more forcefully than stricktly necessary, he made his way over to the spot where he had seen her, hoping with breathless anticipation that he would still find her there. 

His face fell slightly when he reached his destination and found her gone. Turning around, scanning the room with sharp eyes, his heart began to pound with panic when he couldn’t find her again. Had he just imagined her, after all? The thought was ludicrous, he knew, because he had never been prone to imagine things. Certainly not her.

Giving the huge room another once-over, he sighed in regret when he still couldn’t make her out in the crowd. Just as he was about to give up hope, he felt a body deliberately brush against his from behind. A relieved smile tugging on his lips, he turned around to come face to face with the person he had been looking for.

Ilsa’s eyes shone an even more intense blue than usual in the club’s light as they took him in, an easy smile resting on her lips, which were painted in a deep red. Letting his eyes travel over her form, he took in her tight wine-red cocktail dress and the black high heels adorning her feet. Her hair was pinned in an elaborate bun to the back of her head, a few curls escaping to frame her face. He swallowed. She looked breathtaking. Meeting her eyes again, he found her smirking at his obvious appraisal and raised a smug eyebrow at him. She knew exactly how good she looked, not that he was surprised. Ilsa always dressed for the occasion. 

Not so subtly, her own eyes trailed over his form, clad in a white dress shirt and a simple but stylish black suit. She nodded in appreciation and his smile widened. 

Oh, he had missed her.

“I have to admit,” she began, and goosebumps erupted down his back, just due to hearing her voice again, even over the loud thumping of the music. “I didn’t take you for the clubbing type.”

“The guys urged me to ‘get out and stop moping’, so they thought it would be a great idea to ‘hit the scene’, as Brandt put it,” he admitted with a shrug. Somebody behind him bumped into him, and Ethan took a step closer to her, letting his hands settle on her hips. Hers mirrored his and as one, they began to sway together to the music, their bodies in synch, as usual.  


“Why were you moping?”

“I wasn’t. That was just what they thought I was doing.”

“And what were you actually doing?” 

“Contemplating life?” he joked.

“Hmm,” she hummed and he swayed closer to her, drawn to her like a moth to a flame. “So, where are the others?”

He made a vague movement with his chin, not once taking his eyes off her. “Around here somewhere. Luther and Brandt found some company a while ago, and I lost sight of Benji on his way to the bar.”

He neglected to mention that he had gotten distracted by his glimpse of her.

For a moment, she didn't say anything. Instead she closed her eyes and let her head fall back, relishing in the music and the beat thrumming through her. A smile once again formed on her lips. He couldn't decide whether to stare at her lips or at her neck, exquisitely stretched out before him. He decided to take turns looking at both, cherishing the sight for as long as it lasted. 

“The bar sounds good. Buy me a drink,” she ordered suddenly, breaking the spell she had cast over him, and grasped his hand in hers. She pulled him along behind her through the crowd, gracefully weaving around the people in her way. Right now, he would follow her anywhere, he thought, and cringed inwardly at his own sappiness. 

Instead of further contemplating his state of mind, and his heart, he just concentrated on the feel of her hand in his. 

The dancing and writhing bodies delayed their arrival at the bar a little, but they eventually made it. Ethan looked around for Benji, but couldn’t spot him. He wasn’t worried. They would all find their way back to the safe house eventually.

They both ordered a whiskey on the rocks and claimed the two free seats at the corner of the bar. 

“So, what are you doing here, Ilsa?” Ethan asked, trying to make his voice heard over the beat of the music. 

She smiled at him and took a sip of her drink. “Unlike you, I do occasionally like to get out and meet new people. I heard this club was a good place to start.”

“You saying we just happened to be in the same city, in the same club, on the same night?”

Ilsa chose not to answer him with words. She just smiled at him again mysteriously, and took another sip of the amber liquid in her glass.

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m just glad the fates chose to throw us together this night.”

Her smile deepened. “Me too. Thank the fates,” she said with a chuckle and lifted her glass in a salut. 

Ethan couldn’t get enough of her smile, his eyes zeroing in on her lips. He drank her in, committing the sight of her to memory.  
  
  
*  
  
  


“Well, that definitely seemed to improve his mood,” Brandt said smugly, sipping his vodka and leaning back in his seat. 

“If I had to watch him mope over her like a lovesick teenager one more day, I swear I would have bashed his head in with my laptop and be done with it,” Benji grumbled, but then a smile broke out on his face as he took in his friend smiling for the first time in what seemed like weeks.

They watched as, across the room at the bar, Ethan laughed at something Ilsa had said and leaned closer towards her, whispering something in her ear. Her hand settled on his thigh as she leaned in closer as well, and his own hand covered hers, like it was the most natural thing in the world. 

“They look good together,” Luther observed, absentmindedly adjusting the hat on his head. 

“Sure, if you’re into the obvious power couple kinda look,” Brandt agreed. 

“They really are, huh? Especially if you consider that Ethan’s got at least one gun stashed somewhere and I wouldn’t put it past Ilsa to have knives on her body, in places I don’t even want to consider.” Benji huffed a laugh. “If I were Ethan, I’d be careful with her hair.”

Brandt and Luther looked at him questioningly and Benji elaborated. “The first time I met her, Ethan was busy frisking her for weapons. Among other things, he found a knife hidden in her hair. No idea how women do it.”

“Sounds like her,” Luther chuckled. “Gotta admit, I’ve got loads of respect for her. She’s a badass.”

“Sure is,” Brandt agreed with grudging admiration. 

“You guys should have seen her in Kashmir. When I heard she’d found the second bomb, I looked for her everywhere until I finally found her in one of the houses at the edge of the town. But Lane had gotten the drop on her and had tied her to a chair, gagging her, too. She tried to warn me, but I just rushed in like a headless chicken, trying to help her.” Benji paused and sighed at the memory. “Lane would have killed me, if it hadn’t been for her. He had the noose around my neck, ready to finish me off, but man, Ilsa got mad. Even with the terror I felt, it was a sight to behold. She managed to get up, chair and all, and managed to break free while almost breaking her back. And then she just went at him, throwing punches and kicks, while looking out for me simultaneously. I don’t even wanna know how many men met their end between her thighs, and no, I don’t mean it like that!” He interrupted his friends before they could even get a dirty comment in. “I mean, she’s got some literal killer thighs, that woman.”

“Looks like Ethan’s finally met his match,” Brandt added, almost solemnly in light of Benji’s story, and looked back over to the bar. “And I’m sure glad she agreed to come here tonight. Good thing she was already in the country, or this would’ve been a lot harder to set up.”

At the bar, they saw as Ilsa’s left hand rose to tangle in Ethan’s hair at the back of his head, tugging him closer to her. They both bridged the minimal gap that was still remaining between them at the same time, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. Ethan’s hand gently cupped the side of her neck, his thumb stroking over her cheek. The kiss deepend.

“Well, looks like our job here is done, boys!” Brandt exclaimed and downed the last bit of his drink in one go. The others followed suit, happy that their scheming had worked out. 

“We better not find him back in his own bed tomorrow morning.”

“Ugh, Luther, I’m happy for them and all, but I really don’t need to think about them doing anything other than cuddle innocently,” Benji complained, as they headed towards the exit.

“I wasn’t insinuating anything else,” Luther laughed and bumped Benji’s shoulder lightly. 

“Sure you weren’t.”

At the bar, Ilsa subtly watched them leave. She’d have to thank them later for playing matchmaker. 

  
  
~fin

**Author's Note:**

> I had this image in my head of Ethan just staring at Ilsa in the disco lights, being illuminated like the angel that she is, just leaving him speechless. I love writing smitten Ethan, because, same, dude. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the story. As always, let me know what you think. I love all of your comments <3


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